Exercise Helps Cancer Survivors Live Long

Cancer survivors may increase their life spans by engaging in physical activity, a study found. Researchers gave 1,021 men who’d been diagnosed with cancer an exercise survey in 1988, an average of six years after their diagnosis, and again in 1993. Then they tracked the men’s health until 2008. The men who reported more walking, stair-climbing, or participation in sports or other recreational activity lived longer than those who exercised less. People who burned more than 3,000 calories per week—achieved, for example, by a total of about 9½ hours of brisk walking for a 160-pound person—were half as likely to have died during the study as those who burned fewer than 500 calories per week.Source:Journal of Physical Activity & Health, January 2014